Research on classroom peer effects has focused nearly exclusively on high-income countries and on academic skills. Little is known about peer effects in low-income countries and whether effects differ under different educational environments (e.g., teacher-directed versus child-centered, conditions of concentrated advantage or disadvantage). Based…

This study investigated the vocabulary development of children (N = 547) from linguistically and socioeconomically diverse classrooms in Germany from age 3 in preschool to age 7 in Grade 1. The results showed that for dual language learners (DLLs, n = 107) growth rates in their German majority language skills varied over classrooms. Compared to…

This study examined dual language learners' (DLLs n = 24) and English-only (EO n = 20) children's expressive and receptive language in kindergarten (M[subscript age] = 5.7 years) as well as the relation to peers' language use. Expressive language skills (vocabulary diversity, syntactic complexity) were measured in the fall, winter, and spring…

This study investigates how children negotiate social norms with peers. In Study 1, 48 pairs of 3- and 5-year-olds (N = 96) and in Study 2, 48 pairs of 5- and 7-year-olds (N = 96) were presented with sorting tasks with conflicting instructions (one child by color, the other by shape) or identical instructions. Three-year-olds differed from older…

Friendships matter for withdrawn youth because the consequences of peer isolation are severe. From a normative sample of 2,437 fifth graders (1,245 females; M age = 10.25), a subset (n = 1,364; 638 female) was classified into 3 groups (anxious-solitary, unsociable, comparison) and followed across a school year. Findings indicated that it was more…

Examined loneliness and friendship among 22 high-functioning children with autism and 19 typically developing children equated for IQ, chronological age, gender, mother's education, and ethnic group. Found that children with autism were lonelier than typically developing children, had less complete understanding of loneliness, and had poorer…

Examined connections between having a sister versus a brother and coming from a same-sex versus an opposite-sex sibling dyad, and sex-typing in adolescents' friendships. Findings suggested that sisters may learn control tactics from brothers that they apply in friendships. Boys were less likely to model emotional intimacy. Coming from opposite-sex…

Investigates the amount of time that children in same-age v mixed-age groups spend in various forms of social participation, and analyzes the age relationships of children in mixed-age groups. Subjects were three classes of three-year-olds, three classes of four-year-olds, and three mixed-age classes. (Author/CM)

This study investigates the relationship between social-class factors and patterns of reinforcement used by preschool children when instructing younger peers. It was hypothesized that middle class Caucasian children would spontaneously use more positive reinforcements and lower class children more negative reinforcements when interacting with…

Used prospective longitudinal design to examine peer rejection, aggressive behavior, and social withdrawal among 107 maltreated and 107 nonmaltreated children. Found that chronic maltreatment was associated with heightened risk of peer rejection from childhood to early adolescence. Aggression accounted largely for the association between chronic…

Mothers' roles in structuring interactions with their infants during free play was examined when infants were 6- and 9-months-old. Maternal scaffolding of turn-taking exchanges was then contrasted to the forms of turn-taking apparent in sibling-infant and peer-infant observations. Subjects were 26 second-born infants who had a 3- to 6-year-old…

Compares a group of 32 toddlers with employed mothers with a matched group of 38 toddlers with nonemployed mothers in order to examine the effect of maternal employment on the development of the child. While no differences were found between the two groups in language development and emotional adjustment, children of employed mothers were more…

Assessed friendships among Head Start preschoolers. Found that older children were more likely than younger children to participate in a reciprocated friendship, and reciprocated dyads were more likely to be same-gender than were nonreciprocated dyads. Reciprocated friends interacted more frequently and looked at each other more than…

The dyadic interaction of popular and unpopular children was compared. Analysis revealed that unpopular children were more disagreeable and less likely to provide a general reason or rule for their disagreement or to suggest a constructive alternative when criticizing a peer. (Author/MP)